BOISE — The Southern Utah University men’s basketball team bowed out of the Big Sky tournament Thursday night, falling to Portland State, 77-65.
SUU fell behind 11-2 in the first four minutes of their quarterfinal matchup against the Vikings and struggled throughout the entire game to find their stroke on the offensive side of the court.
“The ball just didn’t go in the basket for us today. Normally, we’re one of the better shooting teams in the league, but that’s the beauty of these tournaments. You have to be on, and you have to do everything right, and it just didn’t go our way,” said SUU head coach Todd Simon.
Portland State took a 2-0 lead to start the game and never trailed throughout the entire contest. The Vikings offense came out of the gate firing on all cylinders, knocking down eight of their first twelve shots to build a 22-6 lead 11 minutes into the game.
A banged-up Southern Utah squad had a difficult time getting anything going on offense against a pesky Viking defense. For the game, the T-Birds were held to just 36.8 percent from the floor (25-68), connecting on just three of 25 attempts from behind the arc. The Thunderbirds were playing without leading scorer Tevian Jones, while starters Dre Marin, Maizen Fausett, and John Knight III were nowhere near 100%.
“I’m super proud of these guys. It’s been a long winding journey this year with a lot of injuries, illness, and adversity, but we just kept fighting,” said Simon.
After trailing by 17 early in the second half, the T-Birds put together an 18-10 run to cut the Viking lead to nine after Fausett knocked down SUU’s first three-pointer of the game; unfortunately, that was as close as Southern Utah would get to closing the margin.
Fausett led the way for SUU, scoring a team-high 19 points and pulling down a game-high nine rebounds. Knight injured his wrist early in the second half but continued to play. He left everything on the court, finishing with 13 points and seven rebounds in what could be his final game in a Southern Utah uniform.
“SUU gave me a chance when nobody else would. When I entered the transfer portal, Coach Simon was the only one to actually give me a chance, and he has always been like another father figure to me. I made a family forever at SUU, and I will forever have a place in my heart for my teammates and coaches here,” said Knight.
Dre Marin has been battling an illness as of late and was a game-time decision tonight; but, he pushed through to suit up. Like Knight, he left it all on the court, finishing with 13 points and four rebounds. Jason Spurgin chipped in 12 points of his own while tallying two blocked shots.
Khalid Thomas led the way for Portland State, dropping a game-high 20 points and pulling down seven rebounds.
The game marks Southern Utah’s final contest as a member of the Big Sky Conference, as SUU will transition to becoming a member of the Western Athletic Conference starting July 1.
Written by TREVOR MARBUT, SUU Athletics.
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